The head coach of the Ukraine U-20 national team Dmytro Mykhailenko talked about the training camp plans in Turkey.
— Mr. Dmytro, what goals do you set at this stage of preparation?
— We are meeting with the team eight months after the European Championship. The national team has the opportunity to play two friendly matches, one of which will be against Norway, who is also a participant in the upcoming World Cup. Northern Ireland is a tough opponent as well. Therefore, I am confident that these friendlies will be useful for us. Moreover, the coaching staff wants to get to know the players who have never been called up to this team before. And with the guys we know, we aim to refresh the connections.
— Currently, the squad has changed by almost half compared to the European Championship. What does this indicate?
— Yes, the squad has changed by about 50%. As I already mentioned, we want to get to know the newcomers who have stable playing time and have recently made significant progress in their skills. Among them is a group of players we had wanted to see in the squad before, but for various reasons, it didn't work out. These friendly matches will reveal their level in the context of playing for the Ukraine national team. But this does not mean at all that the path to the national team is closed for other candidates. Everyone has a chance to make it to the World Cup.
— An interesting group has gathered in the goalkeeping line. How did you find the goalkeeper in Brazil?
— Indeed, the guys represent quite reputable clubs. As for Maksym Voronov, we have known him for a long time and have received positive feedback about him. In his club, he has stable playing time. Among all our goalkeepers, he has played the most matches in the last year and is currently training with the first team of Atlético Paranaense. So it will be interesting to see Maksym in action with my own eyes.
— In Turkey, you will play against old acquaintances, Norway and Northern Ireland, which will be represented by the U-21 team. What is this related to?
— This is due to the fact that it is not so easy to find sparring partners right now. Only five U-20 national teams remain active in Europe. All of them are familiar to us from Euro-2024 (U-19), as they are participants in the upcoming World Cup. I reiterate that it will be interesting to play against Norway. They are a very strong opponent. They have performed well in the last two final rounds of the European Championships. And the Northern Ireland U-21 team invited us to play with them, so we gladly accepted this offer.
The Ukraine youth national team (players born not earlier than 2005) earned a spot in the U-20 World Cup, which will take place in Chile this fall, during the final stage of Euro-2024 (U-19).
And on March 17, our team began its first training camp after the European Championship. On the plans for this camp, during which the blue and yellows will play two friendlies (on the 22nd against Northern Ireland U-21 and on the 25th against Norway U-20), the head coach of the team Dmytro Mykhailenko told the official UAF website.
", 'Dmytro Mykhailenko
